Ducks A-Z: Jason Blake

In 147 games with the Ducks, Jason Blake produced 29 goals and 30 assists. Average those numbers out over an 82-game season and it's 16 goals and 17 assists.

Yeah, those aren't anything that you would jump up and celebrate about. You have to figure that the club is also salivating at the thought of having a $3-million salary and -- perhaps more important -- a $4-million cap hit off its books.

Before you look at Blake's two-plus season tenure as disappointing, you must consider that the veteran was brought here mainly because he was a preferred option than defenseman Jeff Finger in order to move Jean-Sebastien Giguere and his $7-million salary. (And who can remember -- or forget -- that Vesa Toskala was part of the deal).

Finger has been buried in Toronto's minor-league system for the last two seasons. Blake has at times been a good complement on different lines with his best success coming alongside Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne even if his numbers have dropped over time.

In a situation where they were going to be stuck with an overpaid player, the Ducks could have done much worse.

What he did: In the third game of the season, Blake was inadvertently cut on his left wrist by the skate blade of San Jose defenseman Brent Burns and the injury put him out for the next 34 contests. Ironically, the veteran returned to the lineup in a Jan. 4 home game against the Sharks and went scoreless but then he immediately moved into the successful part of his abbreviated season. He had assists in home wins over the New York Islanders and Columbus before he had a three-game stretch where he scored four times and had two assists. Teaming with new linemates Nick Bonino and Andrew Cogliano, his first goal came on Jan. 13 in Edmonton and then he followed it up with a season-high 10-shot effort against Vancouver that produced two goals and an assist. Blake also helped spark a Jan. 18 home win against Phoenix when he had a goal and an assist but he was also struck by a Lubomir Visnovsky shot that left him with a foot injury. He played the remaining three contests before the All-Star game but the foot issues kept him out of two games after the break and limited his effectiveness the rest of the way. Blake had just one goal over his last 14 games and two over his final 26.

What could happen in '12-13: Blake is finishing his five-year, $20-million that he signed with Toronto in 2007. Even with the competitiveness that the winger has shown in his tenure, it is all but expected that the Ducks won't invest any more in him. The bigger question may whether he will find any takers on the open market even at a much lower salary. Blake still has some wheels and can get around the ice when he is healthy, which he is much of the time. His best chance at an NHL job likely resides with a scoring-challenged team that needs a veteran presence to help deepen its lineup and doesn't have to spend much. The days of him playing in the top six are likely done and what may hurt Blake's chances is that he isn't what you would think of as a checking forward. But those chances improve if he can transition himself into a fourth-line energy player who can chip in the occasional goal and log some power play time, which gradually took place with the Ducks this past season.

Next over the boards: IGOR BOBKOV

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